Average customer rating:
- To Read
- A beautiful story
- "The Ghosts of Post-Colonial Africa"
- Never have so many words said so little
- The Famished Road -- myth informing the facts.
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The Famished Road
Ben Okri
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ASIN: 0385425139
Release Date: 1993-05-01 |
Amazon.com
You have never read a novel like this one. Winner of the 1991 Booker Prize for fiction, The Famished Road tells the story of Azaro, a spirit-child. Though spirit-children rarely stay long in the painful world of the living, when Azaro is born he chooses to fight death: "I wanted," he says, "to make happy the bruised face of the woman who would become my mother." Survival in his chaotic African village is a struggle, though. Azaro and his family must contend with hunger, disease, and violence, as well as the boy's spirit-companions, who are constantly trying to trick him back into their world. Okri fills his tale with unforgettable images and characters: the bereaved policeman and his wife, who try to adopt Azaro and dress him in their dead son's clothes; the photographer who documents life in the village and displays his pictures in a cabinet by the roadside; Madame Koto, "plump as a mighty fruit," who runs the local bar; the King of the Road, who gets hungrier the more he eats.
At the heart of this hypnotic novel are the mysteries of love and human survival. "It is more difficult to love than to die," says Azaro's father, and indeed, it is love that brings real sharpness to suffering here. As the story moves toward its climax, Azaro must face the consequences of choosing to live, of choosing to walk the road of hunger rather than return to the benign land of spirits. The Famished Road is worth reading for its last line alone, which must be one of the most devastating endings in contemporary literature (but don't skip ahead). --R. Ellis
Book Description
In the decade since it won the Booker Prize, Ben Okri's
Famished Road has become a classic. Like Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children or Gabriel Garcia Marquez's
One Hundred Years of Solitude, it combines brilliant narrative technique with a fresh vision to create an essential work of world literature.
The narrator, Azaro, is an abiku, a spirit child, who in the Yoruba tradition of Nigeria exists between life and death. The life he foresees for himself and the tale he tells is full of sadness and tragedy, but inexplicably he is born with a smile on his face. Nearly called back to the land of the dead, he is resurrected. But in their efforts to save their child, Azaro's loving parents are made destitute. The tension between the land of the living, with its violence and political struggles, and the temptations of the carefree kingdom of the spirits propels this latter-day Lazarus's story.
Customer Reviews:
To Read.......2007-08-31
I came across Okri's 'The Famished Road' in a used bookstore, in Sydney. I decided to do what I used to when I was a kid, and had no knowledge of literary genres or authors- I picked books at random until I found one that looked interesting.
I know a book is good when it completely removes me from reality, pulls me in as if I'm watching inside the book, and alters my perspective when I set it down. When the father becomes a boxer in this novel, I found myself hunched over, practically yelling as if I was in the crowd.
This is a wonderful book, that leaves questions suspended in the air above you long after you set it down. Do yourself a favor, and buy it.
A beautiful story.......2007-05-12
A beautiful story. An African version of Magical Realism but still quite different.
"The Ghosts of Post-Colonial Africa".......2007-04-05
Spirits abound in Ben Okri's FAMISHED ROAD. Azaro, a young boy growing up in an unnamed African country enduring the throes of its pending independence, sees spirit forms all around him. Azaro lives in the interspaces between the living and the dead, which makes him prone to the attacks of supernatural creatures and the dark machinations of witches and necromancers. Okri provides such detailed depictions of Azaro's out of body experiences, relating them with so much hallucinogenic clarity and intensity that unwary readers will find certain passages disorienting. Heady, trippy stuff but well worth the expenditure of time and concentration. Magical realism at its very best.
(Winner of the 1991 Booker Prize for Literature)
Never have so many words said so little.......2006-12-28
Like one or two other reviewers here, I got more than half of the way through this book but eventually had to chuck it aside in frustration. I *wanted* to like it so much, but its plot (even using the word "plot" is being rather generous) is so circular, monotonous, and repetitive, that I just didn't feel I was getting anywhere. A very frustrating reading process. I pressed on for a long time, hoping the book was actually going somewhere -- and maybe it would have done had I persisted, but it's hard to imagine how or when or that it could have been worth the effort. So, even though some of Okri's language and imagery was remarkable, it just wasn't worth enduring the other 95% of the book. Maddening!
The Famished Road -- myth informing the facts........2006-09-13
Ben Okri's The Famished Road -- unbelievable -- stacked with arresting imagery, action, and thought -- heartbreaking -- so heartbreaking -- so full of terror and joy -- all that feeds us and satiates and leaves us reeling in agony. I can't put it down. I've been reading it during my prep and lunch -- and at night -- it's stealing away my neccessary teaching duties -- leaving me thankful -- reminding me of why i read -- it has taken over my morning blurbs about reading -- for a former anthropology goon -- it's a vast experience.......the work of a beautiful monster....-- and what a protagonist! -- The most life-affirming book I've wrestled with in a long time. There's nothing magical about this -- myth is doing what it should be doing in this book -- expressing the universal condition of human existence -- this is story not doctrine -- myth informing the facts -- and maybe most importantly -- enlarging our views of what it means to be human.
Book Description
This is a startling novel about different kinds of riches and different forms of power. It opens another chapter in the adventures of Azaro, the celebrated spirit-child of The Famished Road, winner of the Booker Prize. By turns thunderous and tender, it will resonate in the mind and heart of the reader for a long time.
Customer Reviews:
Infinite Psychedelia.......2000-11-01
The language is truly beautiful in this book. Reading it feels like walking in a mysterious and luxurient tropical forest. Hoots, beeps, deep shades of green, flashing reds and yellows, sudden appearances - that is the undercurrent in this book. And just like in a rainforest, I got increasingly nervous the further I got and wanted to find a way out. The narrator in this story is a visionary young boy, who describes a couple of threatening happenings in his town. His father is aquitted for a murder he didn't commit, his mother rages through town to find him, the forest is being cut down and life flees from it. The fate of the two opposing characters - the black African Queen-like figure and the white Ambassador - is ornamented by the threatening and dreamlike (en)chanted events. A psychedelic combination.
Average customer rating:
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THE FAMISHED ROAD
BEN OKRI
Manufacturer: Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S5TLB6 |
Average customer rating:
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Famished Road
Ben Okri
Manufacturer: NAN A TALESE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WTQLC0 |
Average customer rating:
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The Famished Road
Ben OKRI
Manufacturer: Sold
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OP5EXY |
Average customer rating:
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The Famished Road -
Ben Okri -
Manufacturer: Nan A. Talese Publishing -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NPFE9Y |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, published by American University in Cairo on January 1, 2004. The length of the article is 8090 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: From past to present and future: the regenerative spirit of the Abiku.(Critical Essay)
Author: Mounira Soliman
Publication:
Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2004
Publisher: American University in Cairo
Issue: 24
Page: 149(24)
Article Type: Critical Essay
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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THE FAMISHED ROAD
BEN OKRI
Manufacturer: Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S35S6K |
Book Description
A Clean Slate chronicles the days of Kelly McGraw, a Chicago woman who suddenly can't remember the last five months of her life, a time when she was dumped by her soon-to-be fiance and laid off by the company she thought would make her partner. Overwhelmed and confused but otherwise feeling wonderful, she begins to realize that she has a clean slate in life. She can do anything she wants, go anywhere she wants, be anything she wants. But what, exactly, does she want?
Follow Kelly on a journey that includes her search to discover what caused her memory loss, an internship with a bad-boy British photographer, a Caribbean photo shoot, her boyfriend's desire to come crawling back and, eventually, a brutal discovery that will cause her to reevaluate both her old and new lives.
Customer Reviews:
Suspenseful, gripping story .......2005-12-31
Kelly McGraw cannot remember the last five months of her life. She discovers that someone else is living in her townhouse. Her former boyfriend Ben tells her she has to stop stalking him and his new girlfriend. With the help of her best friend Laney she tries to discover what happened to her. She decides to follow her dreams and take a photography course. She signs up for an internship that pays little but completely changes her life. Kelly is frightened by her flashbacks of herself and others she cannot remember. Her life has been turned upside down by the emotional turmoil and physical trauma. An unexpected conclusion to Kelly's problems will leave you wanting more.
I won't forget this book!.......2005-07-23
The idea of starting over is probably appealing to most people, but in A Clean Slate Kelly has to truly begin again. The characters were wonderful, the story kept moving, and, having lived in Chicago for five years, Caldwell truly brought the city to life. This wasn't a slapstick comedy about a woman who forgets who she is, and it also doesn't hit you over the head with the moral of the story. It's just a a fun read.
I couldn't put it down.......2005-06-09
I picked up this book by Laura Caldwell because i really did enjoy Burning the Map. This book was, in my opinion, very different. I enjoyed it even more. I loved the heroine, Kelly McGraw. She was such a real character to me. And I truly couldnt put the book down. I was enthralled the moment i picked it up. You couldnt help but root for Kelly. Like some of the other reviewers, I also wanted to know what happened to Kelly after the book ended.
Pick up this book and you wont be disappointed.
What would you do if..........2005-03-22
If you had the chance to hit "redo" and make your life over again, what would you do differently? What forgotten dream would you dust off? Lauren Caldwell's Clean Slate is about a woman who gets that opportunity.
Chick lit gets a bad rap for whiny heroines who have no concept of "real problems." But I found Ms. Caldwell's heroine to be the polar opposite of that unfair chick lit assessment. Kelly was honest, funny, and brave enough to sweep up the pieces of her life and stick the old stuff in the garbage. And yet she was vulnerable in a very sympathetic way - who doesn't enjoy telling a character, "don't do it!"
I wanted to find out what happens after the ending but I had great hopes that Kelly would be just fine.
A great girly book with some substance!.......2004-10-18
I just finished reading this book and I loved it. The premise of the story was like no other "chick lit". It had a mystery feel and kept me wondering about the main character. A great tale about looking deep within yourself and figuring out what life means to you.
Book Description
Julie Ann Barnhill's Radical Forgiveness, a natural follow-up to her first book with Tyndale, Scandalous Grace, helps women understand and embrace the power of Christ to eradicate sin and establish a new life of freedom. Enjoy her typically sassy yet vulnerable style as Julie shares from her own and other women's experiences. Along the way you'll see what real forgiveness looks like in everyday life and relationships. There isn't a woman out there who can't relate to Julie Ann Barnhill!
Customer Reviews:
an attempt to rip off the popularity of Colin Tipping's best seller.......2005-07-31
I agree with the reviewer Mr./Ms. Cooper who pointed out that this book doesn't hold a candle to Radical Forgiveness by Colin Tipping. Ms. Barnhill's use of the bestseller title seems to me to be an attempt to grab some of the market of folks seeking Tipping's wisdom. Barnhill's concept and her book itself trivializes the depths of what it is that Tipping attempts to get across in his book. Shame on Julie Ann Barnhill for not coming up with a title of her own and for her publisher for this shameless marketing strategy.
Christian Book Previews.......2005-03-19
`Everyone and everything can be forgiven' is the theme of Julie Ann Barnhill's latest book, Radical Forgiveness. Many have condemned themselves so strongly in areas of their lives, that all hope has been lost for a complete cleansing. This book will show this just is not true.
The use of scripture throughout the book assures beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's forgiveness is so radical, it covers even those hidden spots no one knows about. Julie speaks in such a conversational style you can almost hear her voice. You can picture her sitting next to you assuring that due to the forgiveness and grace waiting, sin confessed and turned from is a beautiful thing. Julie's honesty, vulnerability, and understanding of grace make her more than qualified to write this book.
Leading by example, Julie shows how to face what we really need to face: we are a mess. She writes, "All of us need to embrace the messy reality of our existence, for nothing can happen until we admit it." She leads us there by going first and revealing some of what makes her life a mess. She reveals fact and fiction about forgiveness, and how what we say and what we really mean sometimes are two completely different things. She then gives insight on how to master the mind games we play, and how real girlfriends can make our paths so much smoother.
What an excellent book! Its strength lies in Julie's ability to relate simply one woman to another. She reveals that there is not one thing hidden that could be beyond God's willingness and desire to forgive. If you are a woman who has things concealed, if shame has a hold on any part of you, if you want a friend to help you understand how radical God's forgiveness really is, I suggest you read this book. -- Sheri Carlstrom, Christian Book Previews.com
Raves and Waves for Radical Forgiveness.......2005-03-16
Julie Ann Barnhill delivers authenticity and vulnerability in her book Radical Forgiveness. In this book you will hear someone say out loud some of internal dialogue in your own head and realize "I am not alone." In the chapter titled "It's all About Me" she recalls overhearing a conversation between two attendees at a Christian convention in New Orleans. They were talking about all the "sinful" people of this city who were probably not Christians. She remembers how turned off she was by the gossip. How many of us have been the "Christian" gossip or have overheard the gossip and been turned off. Julie Ann does an excellent job of convicting in a non-judgmental way because she walks alongside us, not ahead wagging her finger. In fact she walks beside us revealing some of the messes she has made in her own life.
This book will help uncover hidden thoughts, past mistakes and current ways that need to be forgiven. You will be drawn to the pages as Julie shows God's desire to forgive all the messy parts of us. Shame, guilt and concealing are all wiped out completely as God calls us to a place that is so radical that after laying truth on the table we actually find peace, not condemnation.
Radical Forgivness is an excellent book! Julie Ann is funny, honest and real. You will find yourself laughing even as she takes you to a deeper level. Her use of scripture assures us that this idea of forgiveness is truth, not just an idea to make us feel better. If you are scorched in any part of your life, have made a mistake in which you cannot offer forgiveness to yourself, I suggest you read this book!
Radical Forgiveness: It's Time to Wipe Your Slate Clean!.......2005-01-21
Not to be confused with the excellent Radical Forgiveness, Making Room for the Miracle by Colin C. Tipping!!
Book Description
Nicaragua, tr M & R Randall, bilingual
Customer Reviews:
Exquisite.......2007-03-29
Daisy Zamora's poetry transcends language. She hones in on the most beautiful details from everyday life, such as her aging mother's fragile and small body or the second life she leads through her sister's blood, and makes the reader feel them deeply and immediately. This is a fine collection of her work, well selected and translated by Margaret and Elinor Randall.
REVIEW QUOTES.......2001-10-12
To be a woman in revolutionary Nicaragua meant to take an active role in reshaping a country. Daisy Zamora came out of that experience as a poet who found her own voice in the context of extraordinary popular struggle. CLEAN SLATE: NEW & SELECTED POEMS is a collection that embodies a spirit of personal and political liberation. This collection includes works written between the years 1968 and 1993.
"Through her introspective early work, as well as through previously uncollected recent poems, we see the poet at her lyrical best." --Publishers Weekly
"..its real value is that those who read only English can through this bilingual edition appreciate Nicaraguan poetry and the writings of one of the greatest women exponents of the recent life and times of its people." --World Literature Today
"Zamora [was] shaped by revolution and gender, but [her] voice is true and universal, transcending political boundaries and sounding clear notes of sanity in times of madness. Highly accessible for general readers and indispensable for Latin American and women's studies collections." --MultiCultural Review
The passionate heart of a Nicaraguan poet.......2001-07-13
"Clean Slate: New and Selected Poems," by Daisy Zamora, is a fine volume of poetry by this Nicaraguan author. The poems have been translated into English by the mother/daughter team of Elinor and Margaret Randall. The poems are presented in a bilingual format, with the Spanish originals and English versions on facing pages.
Many of Zamora's poems are about feminist issues and/or the Nicaraguan revolution. Her work is graced my moments of both hope and paradox. Many poems recall the lives of various women: a female guerrilla ("Commander Two"), an oppressed wife ("Loyal Housewife"), a nurse enraged at United States action in Nicaragua ("Emilia, the Nurse"), and more. There is even a poem about the women of Greco-Roman mythology ("Alter Ego").
One of the collection's most distinctive pieces is "Radio Sandino," a long poem which evokes scenes from Nicaragua's civil war. Zamora frequently evokes or pays tribute to other poets: Gabriela Mistral, Sylvia Plath, Ruben Dario, etc. Overall, an impressive collection by a strong voice in Latin American literature.
Every woman should read this!.......1998-07-14
Her poetry truly touches the heart. I think every woman can relate to some aspect of her poetry.
Average customer rating:
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The Mean, Clean, Giant Canoe Machine
Joseph Slate
Manufacturer: Crowell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Munsinger, Lynn | ( M ) | Authors & Illustrators, A-Z | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0690042949 |
Average customer rating:
- ...emotional, education...and simply fantastic...
- Emotionally Honest
- it's a must read
- Loooved it! Couldn't put it down..
- Can't put the book down
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Clean Slate
Dr Amrik Singh
Manufacturer: 1st Books Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1414042914 |
Customer Reviews:
...emotional, education...and simply fantastic..........2004-05-05
I would highly recommend this book to everyone!!! It has given me an insight about the Sikh culture and religion while capturing the reader about an individual's struggling life from childhood to adulthood. I have to say from the beginning of the book Dr. Singh was able to capture the reader as if they were part of Hukam's life. It was hard to put the book down, I wanted to know what was going to happen next in his life.
Emotionally Honest.......2004-05-01
Thank you Dr. Singh. The book gave me an insight into cultural differences. It's a rich portrayal of struggle, growth and faith of a young sikh man whose story is a gift and lesson to the reader. The writing is emotionally honest.
it's a must read.......2004-04-05
From literature point of view it is an excellent book. It is also an eyeopener for every young sikh going to school or college. The difficulty they confront n the way to solve it. at some point some may feel discouraged but after reading the book they will get perked up a lot and will not feel that much stress as the author experienced it.
As a first generation immigrant I wish I had this book earlierto help me understand my children n what they faced outside.
By having authored the book Dr.Amrik singh made lot of his friends, relatives proud of him.
I strongly recommend the book for everybody.
Loooved it! Couldn't put it down.........2004-04-01
I really enjoyed reading this book. From the minute I started to read it and as I got to know the main character - I couldn't put it down because I wanted to know what would happen to him. I like to read books where you feel like fictional characters really do exist out there in the real world. The author drew me into the characters, taught me about the Sikh way of life, and left me wanting more. That's what I consider to be the making of an excellent read. I would recommend it to everyone!
Can't put the book down.......2004-03-25
I felt that this book gave me great insight on the struggles a young sikh boy has to go through in life. At some points it was emotionally diffcult to read about the physical and mental pain a young boy has to suffer because he does not fit the "norm". This book touched my heart and I'm sure it will touch others as well.
Average customer rating:
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A clean slate
David Garnett
Manufacturer: H. Hamilton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | Classics | Contemporary | General | Historical | Humor | Letters & Correspondence | Middle | Old | Poetry | Renaissance | Shakespeare | Short Stories
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
ASIN: 0241020425 |
Average customer rating:
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Clean Slate: Blackboard to Merge with WebCT
IDC
Manufacturer: IDC Research
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
Research | Marketing | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
All | IDC | By Publisher | Research Reports | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000BVG32M
Release Date: 2005-11-22 |
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